Wilshere: We have to be more clinical

Reduced to being a spectator for the majority of the season, Jack Wilshere must have been as frustrated as the fans.

Not only did he watch the side he loved fail to live up to expectations, but he couldn’t even do anything about it despite being a player.

There were times when it looked like the Gunners could do something big this year but, ultimately, we stumbled and are now having to settle for finishing in the top four once again.

“I was obviously watching as a fan for most of the year so it was tough to watch,” Wilshere said to the official club website.

Wilshere is back but it’s too late for Arsenal. (PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images)

The midfielder sustained an injury back in August and has only just returned to full fitness, featuring from the bench against Sunderland over a fortnight ago and managing to play around 70 minutes against Manchester City on Sunday.

However, those games came too late in the season to have any impact on the title race and Wilshere thinks a failure to finish chances is what has let the team down.

“I think of the games that didn’t go our way like Swansea at home.

“We used to struggle against the big teams, but this year we were alright. In games [like the Swansea one] we start quickly in the first 20 minutes and have chances but we need to make them count. There are a lot of chances we create with the likes of Özil, Alexis, and Welbeck, we just have to be a bit more clinical.”

Arsenal haven’t taken enough chances this season, scoring just 27 times in 18 Premier League home games: fewer than nine other teams in England’s top flight.

Most of the criticism finds itself at the feet of Olivier Giroud but the Frenchman is Arsenal’s top goalscorer in the league with Alexis Sánchez, both players have 13 goals.

From midfield, Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Özil have five and six goals respectively while England international Theo Walcott has scored just five times despite making 28 league appearances. Therein lie Arsenal’s failures.